Thirty Eight - Cafe — Restaurant in The Borough District of Drogheda

On a bank holiday weekend Sunday, my partner and I decided to visit our favorite spot for a Sunday brunch. We arrived at 1:47 PM and were told to take a seat, with the promise that menus would be brought to us. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there.

After waiting for 15 minutes without receiving any menus, we noticed a man who seemed to be the owner. He walked by our table several times, but appeared too busy chatting with a group (presumably friends) to notice that we were sitting unattended. Frustrated, my partner eventually managed to get his attention. By this point, we were seriously considering leaving if the wait continued much longer. It’s worth noting that the restaurant was only half full at this time.

When my partner requested menus, the man finally brought them over at 2:21 PM—nearly 20 minutes after we had been seated. He attempted to lighten the mood with a joke, saying, “You’d swear you were never fed.” Unfortunately, I didn’t find this humorous at all. Waiting 20 minutes for a menu in a half-empty restaurant while watching the owner casually socialize with friends isn’t amusing—it’s just poor service.

Once we got our menus, the waitress, the only saving grace of this experience, promptly took our order at 2:22 PM. She was lovely and attentive throughout. Just three minutes after ordering, our drinks arrived.

At 2:39 PM, our food was served. I ordered a large breakfast, and my partner opted for the scampi. The owner assured me that my toast would be out shortly. However, five minutes after our food arrived, I was taken aback when the toast finally appeared—a small slice of bread, lightly toasted on one side only and served without any butter or spread. My partner’s scampi was also disappointing, with a very small portion size and chips that resembled the leftover scraps from the fryer—small, overly crispy chunks of potato.

We finished our meal at 2:55 PM, paid, and left. This was, without a doubt, the worst experience we’ve had at Thirty Eight. We’ve visited countless times since it opened, but this visit was so disappointing that we won’t be returning. I wouldn’t recommend this place unless you’re good friends with the owners, as that seems to be the only way to receive decent service.

To be fair, I’d like to emphasize that the young waitress was absolutely wonderful—friendly, professional, and clearly trying her best despite the circumstances. She was rushing around, picking up the slack left by what seemed to be...

We had an average meal here today, our order was taken and no drinks or cutlery given out after order was taken. Was a long enough wait for food, I asked the owner after 15 minutes waiting could we get our drinks while waiting and she barely reacted and just said yep, no apology for the long wait especially when we were with young kids. When our food came out 5 minutes later still no cutlery and only one drink appeared. The soup was less than luke warm and panini was barely toasted. The drinks appeared half way through the meal. Was just average over all for the price which is a shame because the menu is good but they could do things a lot better. I found the younger staff very nice and our male server was apologetic but everything just looked a...

Fantastic staff..😍😍😍!! Really relaxing atmosphere..there were 4 of us altogether..we all had different choices from the menu..all delicious..I had the Fish and Chips..( soooooooo good) my three friends had the Turkey and Ham dinner,Steak Sandwich with pepper sauce (HUGE) and cooked exactly how he liked steak done..and my other friend had the all day breakfast..which he loved..it,s a lovely place,with really lovely staff and not expensive considering the size of the portions..it,s so well worth a visit..the average cost for the 4 of us..was about € 16.50 but that also included soft drinks..DEFINITELY worth a visit..I,m going back next...